Here's some pics of a section of hedge I cut recently. It looks like cobwebs but it's full of clusters of what look like little black maggots. Some of them are crawling around the web like stuff. It's quite nasty looking and I'm considering getting an aerosol flamethrower at it. Can anyone tell me what it is please?

Thanks Michael. I'll try an get a closeup tomorrow. Any idea why such a large amount of them in this space? Also, will they take long to turn into moths and go away. If theyre just moths I don't feel the need to wipe them out:)

Why is our first instinct to "wipe things out" I wonder ? If these "maggots" are doing you no personal harm, how about just leaving well alone...they are probably a good food source for some predator anyway.

on seeing your picture I would say they are the caterpillars of the small tortoise shell butterfly, quite harmless and you will be delighted that you have helped the butterfly population in the area.
michael brenock horticultural advisor (retired)

Joined: 22 May 2008Posts: 49Location: Dublin but planning to move home to the whest!

Posted: Thu Nov 14, 2013 12:31 pm Post subject:

I know this is an old post but only reading now, and quite shocked to see somebody living in Ireland hasn't seen caterpillars in a hedgerow before!!!!!!!
Blimey as a kid in the 80's cycling along the road you would see loads of caterpillars crawling on their "foamclouds" in the hedges.....and we thought nothing of it! Shocking to think somebody would want to set light to them _________________"Don't wear perfume in the garden - unless you want to be pollinated by bees"

Don't be so shocked Sundew, I let them live:) I'm actually born and bred in the country and had never before witnessed this. I have however seen it once since. What confused me most was the fact that they were all sitting in a common 'web'. Still not sure how this happens!! I thought a caterpillar wrapped itself in a cocoon in isolation, never knew they spun a spider like web en masse

At this time of year, Tortoiseshell butterflies will be starting to hibernate in houses, sheds, garages, basically anywhere dry. They look dead, as they have sucked every available nutrient back into themselves. They need to hibernate, then go out in the spring, having mated in late summer, and lay their eggs. They aren't dead, so leave them be. If disturbed, the energy cost involved in flying could mean that they don't make it through the winter. Guess what the larvae eat? Brambles and nettles.

Oh, and Meathman, many do live communally. It's a really good strategy for the growing caterpillars to be safe from birds. It's not a cocoon, they do make them individually. They've gathered together on the basis that "the bird might pick us off, but I might be the lucky one", and spun a dense web of silk to make themselves harder to attack. Very similar to birds flocking, or small fish forming themselves into a huge spinning ball if there are predators about. A couple of years ago there was a profusion of caterpillars on common spindle (Euonymous euoropaeus). Big webs everywhere, and all the bushes survived. The only time I'd be worried is if I saw big webs on an oak tree. That'd be Oak Processionary Moth, which is so voracious and prolific that it can seriously harm the tree, and those near it.

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